Saturday, February 28, 2009

Congratulations to the 3A Boys Basketball State Champions, the Bear River Bears...and especially #34, my little brother Cade! I wish I could have been there to cheer you on...but obviously you didn't need this old cheerleader :) Way to go Cader and co...

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I'm officially a big girl! I've grown up and actually committed to something (unfortunately still working on committing to someone..haha!). Meet my new love...Daisy (that's her tentative name...we'll see if it sticks. Oh and I've decided since my last post that my car is indeed a girl, so disregard all the he's in the previous blog.) It took me forever to decide what kind of car I wanted but, now that all is said and done, I couldn't be happier!

Daisy's a "crystal white" 2009 Mazda3, and she fits me perfectly. I love when I tell my friends what kind of car I bought and they say, 'ooh that is such a Kami car.' We're totally made for each other :) I had to search all over the DC area for a white one (I don't know why, but I love the white) and when I finally found Daisy (all the way out in Baltimore), she turned out to be a really good deal too-a match made in car heaven!

And to continue the introductions...meet Wayne (not his first nor his last appearance on my blog), my car guy. Everyone I talked to about buying a car was so nervous for me to do this on my own. "You'll get taken...girls always get ripped off...you can't haggle...blah, blah, blah." Oh, I heard it all...but thanks to Wayne, none of these things happened (except the haggling-we did do some of that and got ourselves a good deal). Wayne also made sure Daisy and I found our way home from middle of nowhere Baltimore safely (while fluctuating speeds to break in her engine). He's such a good guy and a great friend...Daisy and I will repay you somehow Wayne!

Our silly salesman should have known better than to leave Wayne and I alone in the showroom for so long! We played in all the cars, took lots of pictures, drank all the bottled water and just had a great time. As you can see, Miata's weren't made for Wayne...notice his head about a foot above the top of the car. The discrimination tall people face-incredible...and I thought shorties had it bad.

And to continue the intros...this is Bob, he sold me my car. He was a good salesman for me, not too pushy, gave me a good deal (I hope), and just seemed like a very nice guy. And believe me, Wayne and I met our fair share of car salesmen. I don't know if it was Valentine's Day that brought out the love in our salesmen, but we heard a lot of personal stories (not from Bob) during our car buying adventure. At a previous dealership, the salesman didn't give me any info about the car I was test driving, but I did walk away knowing that he was about to get married and that he and his future wife would probably start "popping out" kids pretty quickly, as she is "older" and her "clock" is ticking. I felt bad when I interrupted his story to ask about fuel efficiency and safety features-silly car buyer! That's just one example of the interesting tidbits about random salesman lives Wayne and I were privileged to hear during our shopping experience. Do you think trying to make some sort of personal connection is a new car sales tactic?

This is me...waiting to make Daisy mine! This was the largest purchase I've ever made and it was slightly terrifying writing out the check and signing all those papers! I was joking with the finance dude and asked "do I still get my first born?" He didn't think I was funny...it's a good thing Wayne was there to laugh at my jokes.

Well, there she is...my new love. I forgot how much I love driving and having my freedom-it's amazing. Hopefully I'm still in love after the car payments start :)

In other news, I was watching Jeopardy (which I love, and don't care that it makes me sound like a nerd) as I wrote this blog and I got the final Jeopardy question right- I love feeling smart! The category was Political Terms and the answer was "John Adams first used this term in 1793(?) as he wrote describing a meeting of friends." Do you know the question???

It was Honest Abe's birthday...definitely cause for celebration! What better way to celebrate than with the man himself!?! And no dead president's birthday party is complete without Hostess cupcakes and red, white and blue candles. We were patriotic...and bored on a Thursday night :)

I love when tourists take pictures...so close to getting Abe's whole head in the pic.

Monday, February 9, 2009

My sweet cousin Katie tagged me to play in this picture post game. I am supposed to post the 4th picture in my 4th folder and provide a little explanation of the pic. So here it is...

Talk about a flashback! This picture is from 2005. I was working at Dillard's in Logan, and my mom had just bought a brand new camera, so she and Kalli stopped by my work (miss the days when family and friends dropped by to say hi-anyone want to take a trip to DC?!?) to show me the new camera. I look like a baby...and Kalli is a baby! Love that girl...but so glad I don't work there anymore :)

Now I tag...Morgan, Natalie (post a new blog!), Mandy, and anyone else that reads and wants to participate.

Monday, February 2, 2009

This is my roomies and I in front of the hostel we stayed at in NYC in the summer of '06...

Flashback to 2006...we started the weekend in a different hostel a few blocks down the street (and the blocks may or may not have been in the projects). We came back to our first hostel at 2am one morning, to learn that due to a water main break, we no longer had a room there. Luckily they'd called another hostel (this one) and reserved us a room. So 5 girls plus all our newly purchased purses, I HEART NYC garb, and luggage trek through the projects at 2am in search of our new hostel. I might have been a little nervous at my surroundings (I was a sheltered, little 20 year old from small town UT), and at one point, yelled "EVERYONE WILL STAY TOGETHER! WE ARE IN THE PROJECTS!!!" And by yell, I mean I was as mad as I get and pretty nervous that we were going to get shot or kidnapped or robbed-I had/have a wild imagination, and hours and hours of Law and Order reruns don't help my cause! Luckily, everything worked out that night and we lived to tell the tale of our stay in the "projects."

Fast forward to 2009...Tabbi and I take a little trip to NYC. She has a friend living in Manhattan, and our mutual friends, the Riley's, were moving into their NYC apartment this weekend, so we thought we'd come up, help out, and see a show. We roll in late Friday night, hop on the subway and head up to Nate's apartment. Nate's showing us around his neighborhood on our search for Pinkberry and bamm, we run into hostel number 1 then a few blocks later bamm, there's hostel number 2! What a coincidence! Nate's neighborhood was the "projects" I had been so terrified to be in just a few years earlier. This time, I wasn't nervous at all, I saw the fun little street shops, the interesting sidewalk paintings and the cute park with the elephant sculptures...it's funny the perspective a few years in the city will give you.

Anyways, the weekend was a lot of fun...

We went on the moving van tour of Manhattan...

Froze to death in Times Square...but notice the cute purses! Gotta love Canal Street!

We saw Chicago, with Jan from the Office playing the role of Roxie. It was a little risque, but the music was fun...not my fav but still, it's Broadway, you can't go wrong!I love this pic...Nate was such a good sport! He helped us carry our new purchase around town (Did I mention we started the day with just 1 bag...by the end we each had our own and I may or may not have been carrying a bag in a bag...impressive, I know!)We did lots and lots of this...eating is one of our favorite pastimes! But don't worry, Tabbi and I share everything we eat, so it's not like we really eat that much!This little spot is so great...Sarabeth's is perfect for brunch with good friends!

All in all it was a great weekend, it was good to go back and relive my NYC hostel experience, see one of the gals that I shared it with (so glad you and Noah are on our side of the nation again!), be with good friends, and realize how much all the experiences I get to have on the east coast stretch me, make me bolder, more confident and better able to laugh at my naivety. A little NYC perspective is great...

Wise Words...

"Don't wait for tomorrow. Don't wait for the right job, the right house, the right salary, the right dress size. Be happy today. Be happy now...one thing I know for certain: the time we have here goes by far too quickly. Don't waste any more time sitting on the bench watching life pass you by. "~Joseph B. Wirthlin

"I wake up every morning determined both to change the world and have one heck of a good time. It makes planning the day a little difficult." ~E.B. White

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." ~Audrey Hepburn

"For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'." ~John Greenleaf Whittier

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense for the need for thought." ~Henri Poincare